


Waves on Solid Ground

by for_t2



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Diplomacy, Duty, F/F, Flowers, Hair Braiding, Happy Ending, Idealism, Negotiations, Padmé Amidala Needs a Break, Planet Naboo (Star Wars), Political Crises, Stress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-19 01:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29742894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/for_t2/pseuds/for_t2
Summary: As much as Sabé tries, she can't always make being Queen of Naboo less stressful for Padmé, especially not in times like these. But, some nights, luck is on their side
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Sabé
Comments: 6
Kudos: 10





	Waves on Solid Ground

The Queen was looking at the flowers instead of her files, and that meant, as always, that Sabé had to intervene. Unfortunately. The Royal Handmaidens of Naboo had their duties, and one of those duties was making sure the Queen of Naboo was capable of doing her duties. Of making sure the Queen did her duties.

Unfortunately.

Sabé was starting to hate the word “duty.” Or, if not hate, at the very least resent. There wasn’t long left in their mandate, just over a year before the next queen would have to be elected, but the duties kept piling on and piling on and piling on, busier and busier than ever. It consumed all of their time, it consumed all of Padmé’s time, and fuck, they were young enough that they deserved a little off, weren’t they? Padmé had done enough for this planet to deserve a little time off, hadn’t she?

And maybe, just maybe, Sabé was a little resentful, a little jealous of the fact that tonight’s duties involved the Queen having dinner with the dashingly handsome speaker of the Rori colony moon. Even if was only for one night before the Gungan representative arrived. Something about addressing plans for expansion that had been detailed without consulting the Gungans and improving diplomatics between the planet and the moon so that all of Naboo’s peoples could prosper and… 

And Sabé was so screwed.

“My lady,” Sabé stepped up to Padmé. Lightly touched her arm, trying not to startle her. “We need to go back to reviewing the—”

“I know!” Sabé flinched as Padmé snapped at her. As Padmé immediately flinched at herself. “Just… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shout.” As Padmé immediately went into diplomat mode. “Please forgive me.”

“It’s okay.” Sabé had heard that tone of carefully balanced calm too often to be fooled by it. And she especially hated when Padmé used that voice on any of them. When she wasn’t honest with them. “Do you want me to—”

“No, Sabé, it’s not okay.” Padmé sighed. Slumped her head between her hands. “I promised I wouldn’t be that type of Queen. I don’t want to be that type of Queen. And I don’t want to be that type of friend either.”

Sabé stepped a little closer. “Do you want me to be Queen tonight?”

“It’s fine. Just…” Padmé shook her head. “Just give me a moment.” She stared back out at the flowers. “They’re really pretty, don’t you think?”

*****

The flowers were really pretty. More than that, they were beautiful. Gorgeous. And there were so many of them. Fields and forests and beaches full of them, blanketing the small island in a blue that was almost as deep as the ocean.

She would have to ask the gardeners if they could be included in the Palace grounds.

And she could definitely see why the Gungans had decided to build an dry ground outpost here once. The air was cooler than the continental mainlands, closer to the temperature of the water, thick with the salt of the oceans, and the way the air flowed through the fields made the flowers ripple, almost like waves.

It had been a good suggestion by Eirtaé, bringing diplomacy back to an outpost that had been abandoned for hundreds of years. Even after some quick Gungan renovations, the corners of the building still mixed with the plants, the border between it and the wild barely defined, as it should’ve been. As had been one of Padmé’s top priorities for her second term as Queen, not just rebuilding from the invasion, but uniting Naboo, the provinces and the capital, the planet and the moons, the Gungans and the humans.

It was hopelessly idealistic, hopelessly naïve, and yet Sabé believed in it with all her heart. Because Padmé believed in it.

But not everyone believed in it. Not everyone believed in diplomacy, not between the Gungans and the Palace, not between the Republic and the Trade Federation. And even if Padmé’s approval ratings were setting records in Naboo’s royal history, Sabé had long since lost track of the number of assassination attempts.

At least the island was peaceful. Sabé had swept from one end of the island to the other, and found nothing. No planted bombs, no camouflaged sniper’s nests, no half-buried droids waiting for an activation signal. The island was peaceful.

For now.

And the flowers…

*****

“Stop fidgeting.” Sabé swore under her breath as Padmé’s head shifted when Padmé’s hands waved through the rhythm of her speech a little too vigorously. “My lady!”

Padmé stopped rehearsing for a second to shoot Sabé a small, private smirk. “Maybe it’s the flowers that will kill me.” Sabé didn’t have time to frown before Padmé chuckled. “It’s always the most beautiful things that are the most poisonous, isn’t it?”

Sabé’s hands froze, the flower she had picked half-threaded into the half-finished braids of Padmé’s hair. It took her a second before she realised what Padmé was saying. Before she sighed. “You shouldn’t joke about these things, my lady.”

“What else am I supposed to joke about?” Padmé sighed too, a sigh made almost identical through years of practice to Sabé’s. “You’re the only ones I can really joke with anymore, and…”

And it’s been too long since we’ve had the time to do that. “I know.” Sabé placed the lightest of kisses on the back of Padmé’s neck before continuing with the braiding. The jokes that passed between diplomats weren’t the type of jokes that were supposed to make your smile reach your eyes. “But I don’t like imagining anything happening to you.”

“And what am I supposed to imagine?” Padmé kept her head stiller. “I can deal with assassins myself. I rather deal with them than dealing with what they do to you.” Raised her voice slightly before Sabé could reply. “And I know you’re not telling me about all of the attempts.”

They weren’t. Captain Panaka had asked them not to. But after one particularly close attempt had left Saché with a line of blood that would end as a scar, Padmé had been the angriest Sabé had seen her since the invasion. “I’m sorry.” But the Handmaidens’ duties meant making sure that the Queen did her duties. “We don’t want to add to your stress, my lady.”

Padmé scoffed, probably at the formality that had slipped into Sabé’s voice. “I worry about you. About all of you. Every day that I’m Queen.” She reached for the makeup before Sabé could reply. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Of course.” Sabé finished the last braid and, for a moment, let her hands fall on Padmé’s shoulders before taking the makeup. The flowers were beautiful, and Padmé made them even more so. “Which colour should we—”

Sabé’s communicator chose that moment to chirp.

And, of course, it was Captain Panaka.

*****

Sabé marched back out into the outpost’s main room, the tables all laid out with maps and fruits, for negotiations and more negotiations. “What’s wrong, Captain?”

“It’s the Speaker.” His hologram flickered as he cut right to the point. “There’s a problem.”

Sabé glared at the communicator, at the way the hologram was the wrong shade of blue, neither like the ocean nor the flowers, and not at all like the island. Like the peace. “What happened?”

“Well, calling it a coup would be overly dramatic. The moon’s council isn’t that exciting.” Panaka almost looked apologetic. Well, he did, but Sabé didn’t really think they had time for that anymore. Not with yet another problem. “But the Speaker won’t be joining you tonight.”

*****

Padmé shut her eyes in the silence that followed after Sabé relayed the news to her. “Oh.”

Another political crisis. “I’m sure the situation will be resolved shortly, my lady.” Which meant more formalities. More duties. Sabé winced at herself before trying to relax her voice. “Rori has a small population and hasn’t experienced any significant unrest since the Brainrot Plague.” Almost two hundred years ago. “And the Rorgungan riot.” Almost a year ago. “And… I’m sure it will be resolved quickly.”

“We need to—”

Sabé grabbed Padmé before she could jump up. “You need to stay here.” Pulled her back down. “The Gungan representative is still arriving tomorrow morning.”

Padmé glared at Sabé with an intensity that called for action. That Sabé knew meant she was going to be rushing off to the first shuttle to the moon as soon as the next day’s negotiations came to an end. “Fine.”

“But first, tonight…” Well, tonight now had nothing on the schedule. Sabé wasn’t sure she remembered what to do when that happened. “Tonight you can relax, my lady.” Sabé let out a breath. They finally had a clear schedule. Finally. Admittedly, she felt a little guilty that the rest of them weren’t on the island but at least Padmé could relax. Even it was just for a night. “You can go look at the flowers again.”

“The flowers.” Something in Padmé’s voice, in the intensity of her eyes, shifted. “Right.”

“My lady?”

“We still have the food for tonight’s negotiations?” Sabé nodded. Padmé grinned. “Good.” And lunged forward. Kissed Sabé. Hard enough to leave them both trying to catch their breath. She gave Sabé another small kiss before getting off her. “I’ll get everything ready.”

“But—”

“I’ve changed my mind.” Padmé grinned again, and it made Sabé’s heart ache to realise how much she’d missed it when Padmé grinned like that. When she smiled that easily. “Tonight, you can be Queen.”


End file.
